There were deep problems in the Porsche hierarchy in Stuttgart in the late 1970s, and these threatened the company’s interest in endurance racing, especially at the Le Mans 24 Hours. Professor Ernst Fuhrmann, the CEO, believed that the rear-engined, air-cooled 911 had a limited lifeline. It could not meet new regulations regarding emissions and noise output that would dominate the 1980s, he thought, and Porsche would depend on a new generation of watercooled sportscars: the 924, 944 and 928. On a chart in Fuhrmann’s office the 911 would stop production in 1984, and development work on the six-cylinder model virtually ceased in 1978.
For Le Mans in 1980, the factory ran a trio of 924 Carrera GTRs, one of them sponsored by Porsche Cars Great Britain for Tony Dron and Andy Rouse. No, they would not win, but they would point to the future. None of this pleased Professor Ferdinand ‘Butzi’ Porsche, the company’s chairman and grandson of the company founder, also called Ferdinand. He was barely on speaking terms with Fuhrmann and put out feelers for a replacement.
Peter W Schutz, a brash American recruited from the Deutz engine company, took office on the first day of January 1981, and a gale force wind of change blew through the company in Stuttgart-Zuffenhausen and at the research centre in Weissach. For Schutz, everything seemed to be doable. Development of the 911 was resumed at top speed, first with four-wheel drive and convertible bodywork options.
“What do we have for Le Mans?” he questioned. The tube-frame 936, winner in 1976 and 1977, was wheeled out, uprated with a more powerful engine, the 917 gearbox
